Chocolate Weet-Bix Slice

One of my favourite slice recipe as a kid was what my Grandma called Kabs. It's really a chocolate slice made with Weet-bix/VitaBrits/whole wheat breakfast cereal brick thingys. I made some for the school tuck shop tonight so of course it made sense to double the quantity and make some for home as well. Mr 10 LOVES this slice.

Chocolate Slice (with Weet-Bix/VitaBrits)

3 Weet-Bix or similar, crushed

(What I do is keep all the crumbly and flaked bits from the bottom of the packet when it's finished rather than tossing them out.)

1 cup coconut

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tblsp cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

150 g butter

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Melt the butter and add in the vanilla. Pour the melted butter over the dry ingredients and mix it together.

Press the mixture into a greased and lined slice tray. Bake at 180 deg C for about 15 minutes or until browned.

If you want to ice the slice:

2 cups icing sugar

1 tblsp cocoa

2-3 tblsp hot water

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa. Mix in the water. Ice the slice and cut it while it is still hot. Otherwise it will crumble when you try to cut it.

You can sprinkle coconut, 100's and 1000's or your favourite sprinkles on top of the slice.

The slice is perfect to savour with the cuppa of your choice. ♥

Skin Care

Your skin is amazing. It protects, regulates body temperature and prevents water loss to name just a few of the important functions of this incredible organ. It is also able to absorb some substances. Two years ago I switched from branded chemical cosmetics to natural based skin care and cosmetics and my skin improved dramatically. Some changes were immediate, some were more recognisable over time.

Due to my genetic heritage, since I hit puberty I have always had oily skin prone to continual breakouts. The very first thing I changed was my makeup. I don't wear a lot of makeup. I don't like the feel of it on my skin and I think it's mostly a part of the whole unnecessary process of "fashion and beauty". I switched from a leading brand of cosmetics that used to cost me a fortune to replace and needed 2 different cleansers to remove to a completely natural mineral makeup. I buy all my makeup from MAD not only is their makeup 100% natural, it is economical and their service is fabulous.

I was amazed that I could apply my make up in two minutes flat and it looked natural while covering the redness I have in my skin. I was also surprised that it didn't take long to see a change in my skin. I had lost almost all the blackheads I had and my skin had cleared up slightly.

Then I was on the hunt for natural skin care. Sukin is the best, economical skin care range I have found. Check the prices for yourself. The cleanser I used to buy was $30 a bottle. Sukin is $10. If the local chemist has a sale on it is $8!! It is also 100% Australian. This skin care makes my skin feel sooooooooo soft. After using harsh cleansers for decades to try and control the oil in my skin it was absolutely lovely to have my skin feel soft. The moisturiser is beautiful and glides beautifully on my skin. The lip balm is heavenly. All through winter I have had soft, smooth lips and I hardly ever wear lipstick.

So I now use and wear skin care and makeup that feel glorious on, makes my skin soft, doesn't irritate my skin, keeps it beautifully clean and healthy, and costs less. Worth it? Absolutely no doubt about it.

I sewed!

My Sunday went a little like this:

I sorta feel like sewing but I'm not in a hurry and I want to wander around the net/read a book too. I have that beautiful fabric I bought to make a copy of this favourite singlet top of mine:

But I haven't cut a pattern off it yet. I know.. I'll start cutting the pattern and see how I go. I cut the back pattern. Man, I've had enough of this.. I'll get a coffee and wander through facebook land. I'll go back and cut a front pattern and facing pattern. That's enough.. it's raining outside so I'll read some of my novel. The Hubby is picking up Mr 10 from a sleepover... I'll cut out the fabric while he's gone. That's done. Time for some lunch. I fancy a little nap on the couch. Hmm... I might start sewing that singlet top together. Yawn.. had enough of that. I'll potter around the house and straighten up a bit. I might sew some more of that top now. The hubby is reading up on relativity again (my brain goes cross-eyed) I'll go sew the last bit on that top.

And before I knew it I'd enjoyed every bit of my meandering Sunday and had a brand new singlet top made. It looks like this:

I wore it yesterday and got a few compliments. :)

Wrap Up Paintbrush Holder

Little Miss going on 8 will be 8 soon. I know... you guessed didn't you? She loves nothing more than to draw, colour, collage, paint and make stuff. Let me tell you what she decided to do on the weekend.

The cat has an olive green, fake fur covered cat box thingy that cat's just LOVE to play in, hide in while they're stalking their prey and use the pole to sharpen their claws. Except our cat has never been in the box. ON the box inside the warm, lounge room window... yes. IN the box? No. She loves the pole thingy though. So much so that she has been sharpening her claws so vigorously the pole fell apart. Oh, you know that fake mouse toy hanging on a string to entice cats to play? She rolled her eyes, looked at me disdainfully and said, "How unsophisticated do you think I am?" and never touched the thing.

So Miss 8 decided that the box was actually a jungle scene. All it needed was some trees, vines and assorted wildlife to make it so. She drew some trees and vines, coloured them in and put them inside the box. Next for animals. For this she turned to her trusty friend Google for a little research to find out which animals would be lurking in her forest. The first animal she drew was a lion, coloured it in, cut it out and blow me down if it didn't actually look like a lion. I can draw lions. You might not be able to recognise them as lions but I can draw them. Miss 8 can draw lions that look like lions. So she spent a good two hours on a Saturday afternoon stocking her jungle. THAT's how much she like to create.

In an effort to encourage her artistic talents without fobbing her off onto the wonderfully talented Bob I've purchased some real art supplies as a birthday gift to replace the tacky, cheap kids artistic stuff that we seem to have an endless supply of. I thought she needed a box/container/bomb shelter to keep her brushes in so that they wouldn't become damage and wouldn't be lost.  In a previous post I linked to a tutorial for a crayon holder and I've adapted that to make a paintbrush holder. Only I'm kinda lazy and did it the easy way. ;)

Vicki's lazy tutorial for a paintbrush holder wrapper upper thingamabob.

Materials:

The original tutorial calls for fabric, wadding, stiffening.. yadda, yadda, yadda.. it's all too hard already.

Go to Lincraft or similar store and buy 2 heavy cotton placements that are reinforced with stiffening. Cost: $2

Go through your stash (if you have one) and find some matching ribbon/ric rac/lace/shoelaces/anything else to use as a tie or decoration. If you don't have a stash.. go through your Mum's/a friends or buy something suitable.

Cut one of the placemats in half lengthways like so:

Use a zigzag stitch on the cut edge to stop it fraying. This will be for the little pockets. I sewed crossgrain ribbon onto the cut edge with a fancy stitch on my brand new Janome. *sigh* Love my Janome.

Place the half placemat on top on the full placemat. Line up the bottom edges and the sides.  Stitch them together along the sides and the bottom.

Now for the pockets. What you need to do is stitch vertically starting at the top of the half placemat, sewing through both layers of placemats right to the bottom of the placemats. Leave a 3cm gap and then stitch another row exactly the same as the first. Keep stitching in 3cm intervals across the width of the placemats. I deliberately kept one section about 8-10 cm wide in case Miss 8 wanted to store something wider in the wrap in the future.

Finishing touches: Sew on some ribbon/a shoelace/next appropriate thing to make a tie. Decorate the wrap if you wish to. Taaa Daaa. You now have a unique wrap perfect for keeping long, thin stuff in. I reckon you could use this for: cutlery (keep it in the picnic basket or near the bbq), hair brushes and combs, tools (use leather or vinyl instead of fabric for the complete Malboro Man look), whatever else would be handy in one of these.

The pretty flowers on the outside of the case are Fozz Felt from my craft stash. It is self adhesive. Just peel off the back and stick it on. 

This took me less than an hour to make from start to finish and included time to stop and talk to the cat, take some photos and chat to the delivery man. Enjoy!

Cupcake Recipe

My tried and tested cupcake recipe:

This recipe makes 3 dozen regular cupcakes or 2 dozen muffin sized cupcakes.

You will need:

250g soft butter
1.5 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups of milk
4 cups of self raising flour

Get the electric mixer out of the cupboard and make yourself a coffee. Drink it while the butter and sugar are being whipped into soft, creamy goodness.
Drop the mixer back a few gears and add the eggs one at a time.
Throttle the mixer right back to low and add 1 cup of the flour. If you don't do this you will be shrouded in a soft, white cloud of flour and your batter will be tough. After it's mixed in, pour in 0.5 cup of milk and let it mix in. Keep alternating the flour and milk until everything is mixed in.
Fill some patty papers about 2/3 full and bake for about 15 mins at 180 deg C.

Make another coffee to enjoy with your freshly baked cupcakes. If your cupcakes survive long enough to cool down, you can ice them. Enjoy.

It Went A Little Like This....

"Hi Guys, how was your day?" Followed by the anticipated, time honoured traditional responses of "Good" and.... "Good" in a slightly different pitch. In most households this is the usual, run of the mill after school greeting.

Today was slightly different. *I hear your audible collective intakes of breath.* I know, right, I couldn't believe it either. It went like this:

Master 10 going on 40, "We have to dress up tomorrow. In a New Caledonian Theme. And we have to take a plate of food to share. It could be something French if you like."

Let me translate for you. "Mum, I need the most awe-inspiring New Caledonian costume complete with beach and palm trees. While you're at it, can you whip up some French pastries filled with lots of whipped, soft cream, topped with some hip-defying chocolate with some Camembert made in the South of France by French maidens with soft-skinned hands on the side. By the way, I need it two days ago."

My mind automatically locks on to the beach scene only it places me squarely in the shallow ocean water reclining on a deck chair. The cool, gentle waves wash gently over my legs whilst I sip upon something with a little umbrella and bendy straw in it. My eyes drift lazily closed behind my humongous, designer sunglasses. I wave a lazy, indifferent hand. Wake me when it's all over.

Only to be jolted back into reality when Miss 8 going on 8 adds, "Oh, I'm dressing up too. Only mine is an Australian Aboriginal theme and we need real aboriginal food like witchety grubs!" Now read that again and at the end add in the most animated face to ever grace a Broadway Musical complete with big, blue eyes opened as wide as they can go without her eyebrows getting lost in her hair. Witchety grubs????? I'm sure that neither Coles nor Woolies stock them. Not even in the Deli department.

What does a mother do? She finds the nearest tshirt with a palm tree and "Wave Rider" or similar screen printed on it for Mr 10 and some black pants, a red jumper and a yellow flower brooch for Miss 8. TaaaDaaa... instant culturally correct costumes. Now, for the food. Hmmm.... I'll fall back on the trusty cupcake!!!  Everyone loves cupcakes. How to make them culturally correct?? I know! The kids can make toothpick flags to decorate them with! Hell, I don't even have to Google the flag design.

Voila! I'm sure that if I had a cape and pretty tiara I could save the world! How was your Monday? :)

Quick, Easy, Cheap Dinner

Dinner!

It's a photo!!!  Yes, a real, live photo. Of my dinner taken in my kitchen. :)

Let me describe how wonderfully simple, fresh and tasty this was.

The food!

Look at those glorious eggs! Check the colour! Fresh from Pete and Guy's backyard hens.

Plump, ripe, juicy tomatoes - $1.99 a kilo!

Avocado! This is half an avocado... there were 6 avocadoes in a bag for $1.99!

Wonderfully spicy Spanish Chorizo sausage. $10 a kilo... this is about 80g.

Sweet basil from the garden.

Dinner for 2 cost less than $5. Add a slice of toasted homemade bread and this is a well rounded, fresh, gorgeous, sharable meal any time of the day. And the very best thing... it took about 15 minutes to cook. Gotta Luv It! ♥